Appointment
Rinki Sethi, former Twitter CISO, joins cloud security startup Upwind
Sethi, who previously held senior security roles at Twitter, Walmart, Rubrik, IBM, Palo Alto Networks, and PayPal, will lead Upwind’s global information security and technology efforts.
Cloud security startup Upwind has appointed veteran cybersecurity executive Rinki Sethi as its Chief Security Officer. Sethi, who previously held senior security roles at Twitter, Walmart, Rubrik, IBM, Palo Alto Networks, and PayPal, will lead Upwind’s global information security and technology efforts. She will also contribute to broader company strategy, including marketing, go-to-market, and customer engagement.
Sethi joins Upwind during a period of rapid growth. The company reported 4,000% year-over-year revenue growth in 2024, 40% customer expansion, and more than 30 product updates in the first quarter of 2025. Upwind’s platform focuses on real-time, runtime-based cloud security, a key differentiator from traditional CNAPP (Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform) tools.
As an early customer of Upwind, Sethi brings experience from both the buyer and boardroom perspective. She also serves on the boards of Vaultree and ForgeRock and is a founding partner at Lockstep Ventures, which invests in cybersecurity startups.
“As a CISO, I lived the pain of chasing dashboards while incidents unfolded in real-time,” said Sethi. “Upwind is the first platform I’ve seen that flips the model, from reactive noise to real-time decisions. As an early customer, I experienced how powerful it is to operate with full runtime context. That’s why I’m joining Upwind, to help build the future I always wanted as a practitioner.”
Upwind was founded in 2022 by Amiram Shachar and the team behind Spot.io, which was acquired by NetApp for $450 million. The company has raised $180 million to date from investors including Greylock, Cyberstarts, Craft Ventures, and funds led by NBA players Steph Curry and Omri Casspi.
